Single mumps vaccine effectiveness

[Philippat]

Well, now the GF/working mothers debate is calming down, must be time to start an MMR debate... NOOOOOOOOO!

Please don't start debating the issue, I just wondered if anyone knew the answer to my question (can't find it on internet).

I see from the MMR information that mumps component is about 84% effective. My surgery nurse told me single mumps vaccine is less effective still - does anyone know if this is true and if so how much?

Thank you.

My conversations with people at Good Healthkeeping ( who give separate jabs) have been along the lines of them saying ''Do you really want to have this jab? Mumps is not serious in small children and by the time it could be serious ( adolescence) any jab given now will have ''worn off'' and he/she will ahve no protection unless given another jab - so why not either - not immunise and if he she gets mumps young he/she will have immunity for life - or immunise later - pre adolescence.''

Having trotted out their line on this I have to admit I have still not decided what to do as they insist you wait at least 6 months between measles and mumps anyhow.

The single mumps vaccine used in this country (jerryl lyn strain) is EXACTLY the same as the mumps found in the MMR. Same vaccine, same effectiveness. There are two other strains available - neither is used in the UK. Surgery nurse has no idea of what she is talking about.

just wanted to resurrect this thread to ask whether anyone else is having problems getting hold of the single mumps vaccine? I believe there is shortage in the UK. Can anyone, (Jimjams?)recommend any good sites for info about mumps. I am terrified of DS getting it and getting sterile but I think this is fairly rare?

I think bayleaf has hit the nail on the head regarding the dangers of mumps.

The main complication the drs worry about in young children is meningitis, BUT this is a rare complicaiton and it is viral meningitis - which is nowhere near as serious as meningococcal meningitits and children would be expected to make a full recovery.

if your main concern is sterility it makes more sense to wait until puberty before vaccinating- your ds would be more likely to have protection when he needed it. And if he caught mumps in the meantime- he would then have protection for the rest of his life.

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Having looked into this, even the risk of sterility is not only vanishingly rare at worst, it may not even exist. It can cause inflammation of the testes in older boys, but there is no incontrovertible evidence that leads to sterility. My ds is also on a waiting list for single mumps vaccine and I'm not that bothered about it (though annoyed with gvt bullying!)

Thanks for the info about meningitis jimjams (as in it possibly leading to viral rather than meningococcal.) As far as the sterile thing goes, I think the only reason I'm slightly paranoid about it is because a bloke I work with got mumps and, as a result, went sterile (is that the correct phrase?) anyway, him and his wife have had 6 IVF treatments to conceive their two and it just made me think.
Aloha - it's interesting that you say there is no evidence to prove a link as he was told at the time that mumps was the cause, although obviously that's not to say the drs were right.

We too are awaiting mumps it was due in May. I'm not particularly worried yet. Rumour has it, after the age of seven in boys it could cause a problem. But on the other hand, like aloha says, apparently its not true it could cause infertility problems, so conflicting tales again.

Also heard that you can ask your GP for single mumps, as the Gov can not stop your course of singles if you've already started the first, though again not sure how true this is. - Anyone?

It's not that there's no evidence re sterility, more that there is conflicting evidence. Even the Department of Health says that there is no proof of a link. And even if there is a very slight chance of impaired fertility (and the most minute chance of sterility ) then this only applies after puberty. There is no risk whatsoever to pre-pubertal boys. One of the problems is it is very rare for sperm counts to be taken before and after a case of mumps involving inflammation of both testes in an adult male!

I am still waiting for an app. from dh2000 for the mumps vacine for my daughter, i'm not particularly worried either. I did however ask my health visitor if we could get it from the gp because we had already had the first two singles and she said the nhs will not under any circumstances give single vacines as they are not licensed to do so, the only option available from the nhs is the mmr, regardless of whether you have had any of the singles.

Just to continue with Aloha's point. Apoparently even if inflammation does occur it's usually only to one testicle and as a man could populate Europe with his one remaining testicle its not likely to be a problem.

Actually why do we vaccinate against mumps? What is the official line? Does anyone know? Or is it just that we will vaccinate against any disease if we develop a vaccine against it?

We took our DS for single mumps jab yesterday only to be told none was available and clinic not sure when it would come in again (had rubella instead). It's a ludicrous situation - the mumps vaccine is manufactured in the UK, exported to Canada for labelling and reimported into the UK via Switzerland, which is where the current import restriction is causing problems. What sort of a nanny state are we living in? I feel so cynical about healthcare, partic for children. Just had to get that off my chest.

jimjams - This is from the "mmrthefacts" website which I'm sure you're familiar with
the figures after meningitis are odd 1 in 200-5000, bit of a wide variant isn't it?
maybe it's the deafness risk or in case you pass on to a pregnant woman?
"Although most people will get over mumps without too many problems, a significant number will go on to develop serious complications.

The numbers in the brackets indicate how common each complication is, based on reports of past cases of the disease:

in older males, swollen, painful testicles (1 in 5)
central nervous system involvement is common - meningitis/encephalitis (1 in 200-5,000)
pancreatitis (1 in 30)
deafness - usually with partial or complete recovery (1 in 25)
mumps during pregnancy can lead to spontaneous abortion. "

Not sure katierocket as any infection with a high temp in pregnancy can lead to spontaneous abortion.

I've just bought a great book on vaccination- The vaccine guide by Randall Neustaedter. He's anti mass vaccination, but not necessarily anti vaccination if people have made an informed choice. It's a bit more "robust" than the vaccination bible- and again has lots of references.

He says of mumps:

Infection of testicals and ovaries is not uncommon and occurs in 20 to 30% of adult cases, BUT sterility following such infection is extremely rare. Encephalitis and meningits complications occur at a rate of 2 to 4 cases for ever 1000 reported cases of mumps, although its estiamted only 70% of mumps cases are reported. Deaths from mumps are rare, but about half of mumps associated deaths are in persons over 20 years old.

the mumps vaccine is known to cause meningitis - he gives a few studies. One gave a fgure of one case per 3.800 doses, another one per 1000 (these are all referenced - one of those was a lancet paper). In japan the rate was calculated as one per 2000 doses of MMR.